17 replies to this topic

[asbestoshills]

I was looking at some research for work and saw a few articles and research papers that Sacramento has the highest rates of 9 major cancers in the area. Lung cancer was more prevalent here than anywhere in CA. Also, people have more cancer in Sac than so-called smoggier areas like Los Angeles. What do you think it's attributed to? Why would lung cancer be the number one cancer in the area?
I think it's b/c most residents get their water from the polluted Sac River....Thoughts?
The more I live here, the more I noticed that everyone I know has someone that has cancer in this area and they are very young in most cases (under 40).
It's kind of disturbing that you can't easily access which areas have X amount of cancers without doing a lot of digging. Also, it's almost impossible to detect cancer clusters in the area b/c no one wants that information out b/c of lawsuits...50 years later people are still dying higher of cancer in Rancho Cordova than other areas b/c of the perchloate in the drinking water. The lawsuits are still hard to prove even when the people get the kind of cancers that the pollutant causes...CREEPY...

[Bill Z]

Someone once told me they wouldn't fish below nimbus dam on account of the ground water pollution. I answered them with "I don't fish below 5000 feet elevation.", which is mostly true. I have fished local waters to catch nothing. I have caught fish at one of my favorite camping sites that happens to be at ~4000 ft elevation, but for the most part, I'm usually in the 6000 to 10,000 foot altitude range when I'm fishing. Like this coming weekend I'll be backpacking and fishing a lake at ~8670 feet above sea level.

[brown]

Maybe you can't detect cancer clusters in the area because perchlorate has never been shown to cause cancer.

[asbestoshills]

You work for Aerojet...I dare you BROWN to drink Rancho Cordova water for 20 years and get back to me, if you are still alive.....
ALSO, Aerojet gets their drinking water from Folsom, not Rancho.....
You will only believe the science behind perchlorate once u don't take a paycheck from the hand that feeds u.

[asbestoshills]

SO BROWN IF THIS IS WHAT U MEAN BY NOT DIRECTLY CAUSING CANCER! IT INDIRECTLY CAUSES CANCER AND OTHER STUDEIS SHOW THAT PERCHLORATE COULD BE TO BLAME FOR HIGH BREAST CANCER RATES ALSO...


Too much perchlorate can damage the thyroid gland, which controls growth, development and metabolism. Fetuses, infants and children with thyroid damage may suffer mental retardation, loss of hearing, speech defects or poor motor skills.

A 1999 study in Arizona comparing infants in Flagstaff consuming water free of perchlorate, and Yuma, which is supplied by perchlorate-laced water from the Colorado River, found changes in the Yuma babies' thyroids.

Perchlorate was suspected of causing cancer in 1966, when the first long-term study of its effects in drinking water was conducted. Perchlorate did not directly cause cancer, but induced tumors resulting from hormone changes in lab animals, while NONE occurred in control animals.

[john]

guys, no shouting. Nothing wrong with a educated discussion but I will not tolerate shouting.

[Darthvader]

You work for Aerojet...I dare you BROWN to drink Rancho Cordova water for 20 years and get back to me, if you are still alive.....
ALSO, Aerojet gets their drinking water from Folsom, not Rancho.....
You will only believe the science behind perchlorate once u don't take a paycheck from the hand that feeds u.

The people working out at Aerojet only drink bottled water.

[Barb J]

I wonder also if the fact that we have alot of Bay Area Transplants might skew the results???? Alot of cancers seem to hit later in life - when people have sold their pricey Bay Area homes and moved up here where it's more affordable to retire.

This actually happened to my dad. He moved up here in retirement and was diagnosed with mesothelioma a year later and died within months. Had he stayed in the Bay, they would have gotten his statistic.

Just a thought.

Barb

[brown]

You work for Aerojet...I dare you BROWN to drink Rancho Cordova water for 20 years and get back to me, if you are still alive.....
ALSO, Aerojet gets their drinking water from Folsom, not Rancho.....
You will only believe the science behind perchlorate once u don't take a paycheck from the hand that feeds u.

Nope, don't work for Aerojet. I actually did some work on the Aerojet site but it was on behalf of EPA. My paycheck comes from cleaning up environmental toxins rather than dismissing their impact, but I'm a scientist first and foremost and don't take issues like this at face value.

I'm not saying it's good for you, simply that it has not been shown or suspected to cause cancer in humans. There are plenty of studies that show it has adverse health effects, but there's a big difference between noncancer health effects and cancer.

In the 1966 study you linked, rats were given an average daily dose of 1,000 mg of perchlorate per kilogram. The highest detected perchlorate concentration in drinking water wells in Sacramento county is 400 micrograms per liter. A human would need to drink about 20,000 gallons of water at that concentration to receive the same dose. Not to mention there are significant differences between thyroid function in rats and humans, humans simply are not as sensitive to thyroid cancer development as rats.

There are many factors that go into cancer rates. In order to answer your question, you would need to look into demographics, lifestyle choices, medical care, and many other variables. You can't simply say the Sacramento area has the highest incidence of cancer, it must be the air, it must be the perchlorate. Environmental toxins actually account for a relatively small percentage of overall cancer rates.

Regardless of what you think, I'd love to see someone do a study of what causes increased cancer rates in the Sacramento area, so we would have a starting point of how to reduce those rates.

[brown]

I wonder also if the fact that we have alot of Bay Area Transplants might skew the results???? Alot of cancers seem to hit later in life - when people have sold their pricey Bay Area homes and moved up here where it's more affordable to retire.

This actually happened to my dad. He moved up here in retirement and was diagnosed with mesothelioma a year later and died within months. Had he stayed in the Bay, they would have gotten his statistic.

Just a thought.

Barb

That's another good point, there's generally a latency period with cancer. You don't get exposed to carcinogens today and get cancer tomorrow, you get it 20 years down the line.

[Bill Z]

Does anyone know how much water Rancho gets from surface supplies (river & lakes) vs. from groundwater via wells?

And then do they mix all the sources, or does it depend upon where you live as to whether you get surface or underground water delivered to your tap?

With knowledge of the plume, do they shutdown contaminated wells, or is the water treated to remove the toxins, or diluted with surface water until toxins are below government established "safe" limits?

We hear the horror stories, but does the media provide the real truth as to what is actually done?

I've never read anything that answers my questions above.

[brown]

Does anyone know how much water Rancho gets from surface supplies (river & lakes) vs. from groundwater via wells?

And then do they mix all the sources, or does it depend upon where you live as to whether you get surface or underground water delivered to your tap?

With knowledge of the plume, do they shutdown contaminated wells, or is the water treated to remove the toxins, or diluted with surface water until toxins are below government established "safe" limits?

We hear the horror stories, but does the media provide the real truth as to what is actually done?

I've never read anything that answers my questions above.

Not sure of all your questions, but I believe that domestic wells are taken offline when concentrations exceed safe drinking water standards.

[Agent_007]

The more I live here, the more I noticed that everyone I know has someone that has cancer in this area and they are very young in most cases (under 40).

are you exaggerating or painting with a wide brush? please clarify and be specific.

[asbestoshills]

are you exaggerating or painting with a wide brush? please clarify and be specific.

Okay, what do you want to know?
10+ ex-coworkers, who worked in Rancho Cordova all got cancer within a three-four year year period. Only two are still living.
Here's the breakdown:
1)tongue cancer-she was young 30s
2)liver cancer-50 something
3)sudden death, but cancer found in autopsy-40 something
4)breast cancer-30 something
5)skin cancer on leg and never sun tanned-50
6)lymphoma-30 something
7)leukemia-30 something
8)colon cancer -mid 20s
9)colon cancer-late 30s
10)lung cancer-40 something didn't smoke

Those are just my co-workers...What did they have in common? They all worked or lived and worked in Rancho Cordova. This doesn't inc others that I didn't know personally, but knew of ...
Also, several children in Folsom have had cancer and some other friends have breast cancer and thyroid cancer. Investigators from our corp couldn't find anything in the air, but the water had levels of perchlorate and now the company brings in water for employees.

[EAH]

I have worked in Rancho for over 15 years. Only know of 3 co-workers who were diagnosed with cancer during this time.......
Do you happen to work for DeltaNET???? I heard they had a rash of cases over there a while ago......don't know how true that is.....